TWO-time convicted killers Leslie Huggins and Junior Phillips have begun to serve a 22 year sentence for the brutal, premeditated murder of State witness Clint Huggins in 1996.
Clint Huggins' murder by his cousins and a friend had shocked the nation as it was part of a plot to silence him in the high-profile trial against drug kingpin Dole Chadee and his gang.
On January 22, Huggins, 53, and Phillip were resentenced by Justice Gail Gonzales to 22 years, beginning from the date of the resentencing.
The two have already served more than 25 years for the murder of Chadee’s brother Thackoor Boodram in 1997. Gonzales ruled that the sentences from the two murders - Huggins and Boodram - should not overlap. “In this case the sentence is to take effect from today,” she said on Wednesday.
Leslie and Junior were convicted of Clint’s murder two years after their 2001 convictions for Boodram’s murder. Nine others convicted for Boodram's murder were freed in March 2024. Huggins was resentenced to 30 years for Boodram's murder but he could not be released because he was serving life for Clint's murder. Philllips was also convicted for Boodram's murder and was also resentenced.
A third man, Arnold Huggins - Leslie’s brother - was previously resentenced by Gonzales to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years in November 2023, for Clint’s murder.
Their resentencing came after the separate judges found their previous life sentences were unconstitutional and ordered they be resentenced.
“This was a premediated killing for financial gain. In essence a contract killing…an attempt to defeat the course of justice. The killing was brutal, almost overkill,” Gonzales said.
During the resentencing hearing, it was revealed that both men had made substantial strides toward rehabilitation during their time in prison. They participated in educational and vocational programs and maintained good conduct. Reports from prison authorities described both Huggins and Phillip as posing a low risk of reoffending.
While acknowledging these efforts, Gonzales emphasised that the punishment must reflect the severity of the crime.
“In this case, where then and more so now State witness are being murdered with impunity before matters can come to trial makes retribution and deterrence the main objective of the sentence.
“.... In this case, there was a planned and premediated murder of a State witness, which this court finds warrants a life sentence at least as a starting point.” She imposed an increased minimum term of 33 years for the aggravating feature of the Boodram conviction, but reduced their life sentences to a determinate sentence of 25 years. Although the time they have spent serving their sentences for the Boodram murder were not considerd, they received decuctions for the time between their arrest and convictions, leaving wthem with the 22 years, one month and nine days to serve, rounding it off to 22 years. In refusing to impose concurrent sentences, Gonzales said, “one cannot lose sight of the fact that it is for t
